Epress.am News from Armenia
A local art activist group called Hakaharvats ("Counter Blow") at 5 pm today stuck a poster with Russian President Vladimir Putin's image on it and the words "Know your enemy" on the gates of the National Assembly. The group did the same thing last year except the image was of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Asked why the "enemy" today is Putin, the young artist activists said the Russian president "has an impact on the negative developments in Armenia".
Police on duty, however, removed the poster after 5 minutes and asked the youth to wait. When the youth asked for what reason, a police officer, after speaking with someone over the phone, told them they had to wait until he gets orders by phone. The youth, however, insisted that detaining them is unconstitutional, at which point police officers claimed the bicycle belonging to one of the youth. Asked why they are holding onto the bicycle, one of the officers said the bicycle is being used "as a measure of restraint".
After waiting 15 minutes, the police officers received orders and declared the youth were free to go. When the youth asked whether they weren't going to apologize, one of the officers said: "We apologized to whoever was needed".